PHILADELPHIA (PA)
KUNC
By Barbara Bradley Hagerty
A clergy sex-abuse trial in is reaching a crescendo in a Philadelphia courtroom. One defendant is James Brennan, a priest accused of trying to rape a minor, which is not that unusual.
What’s drawing attention is the second defendant, Monsignor William Lynn. Lynn is first high-level Catholic official to be criminally prosecuted — not for abusing minors himself, but for failing to protect children from predator priests.
Failure To Protect?
So far, it’s been a brutal trial for Lynn. He served as the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy between 1992 and 2004, and it was his job to investigate sex abuse claims and protect children.
For eight weeks, prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence — nearly 2,000 documents and some 50 witnesses — that Lynn put the priests and the church ahead of abused children.
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